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Your. Emotions. Emotions. Everyone feels happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust and anger at some time - these are the six basic emotions. There are over 600 words in English to describe them and we use 42 muscles in our faces to express them. Extreme emotions.
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Your Emotions
Emotions Everyone feels happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust and anger at some time - these are the six basic emotions. There are over 600 words in English to describe them and we use 42 muscles in our faces to express them.
Extreme emotions You need to be able to feel and recognize a range of emotions, but extremes of emotion can cause problems. Sadness can become depression, anger can become unprovoked aggression, and pleasure can lead to addiction. Feeling afraid in a dangerous situation is natural and useful. But being too fearful can cause unhelpful anxiety, phobias and panic attacks.
Anxiety disorders We all feel anxious sometimes - walking alone at night, for example or before an exam. Anxiety can be a normal useful emotion, helping us to recognize and cope with stressful or dangerous situations. But anxiety, especially when it is severe, sometimes stops us from leading a normal life. Panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are all forms of extreme anxiety.
Recognizing emotions You look at people's faces to see if they are familiar, to judge their gender and age, and also to see what mood they are in. You are usually very definite about what someone is feeling. Most people can instantly recognize a face as reflecting happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust or anger rather than a mixture of two or more.
Expressions around the world All people frown when they're angry and smile when they're happy. But is this just learnt as we grow up, surrounded by pictures, photographs and television? Apparently not: even people who live in isolated parts of the world use these same expressions. Everyone in the world uses the same facial expressions to communicate their emotions.
Faking it You can pretend to be happy, angry or sad, just by changing your expression. But, when you fake a smile it is very hard to use all the muscles you use when really smiling - especially those surrounding the eyes. Your true feelings can also show through your posture, body movements and tone of voice. However, most people will take others at face value, and do not realize when emotions are faked.
Why do you have emotions? If you feel afraid, you try and escape from the danger. If you're happy, you relax. If you are disgusted, you may feel sick. Your emotions influence your behavior. Our ancestors relied on their emotions to survive. But these days, we use our emotions more for making lifestyle decisions than simply staying alive
Using your emotions You use your emotions to help manage and plan your life. We call this part of decision-making a 'gut instinct' or 'intuition'. People with damage to the front of the brain sometimes lose both their powers of reasoning and their emotions - showing that the two are closely linked.
Emotions and your brain Emotions enable us to react to situations - for example, anger or fear will set your heart racing, and feeling happy will make you smile. One of the key areas of your brain that deals with showing, recognizing and controlling the body's reactions to emotions is known as the limbic system.
Animal emotions The limbic system is often thought of as a primitive part of the brain as it is present in lower mammals and parts are even found in reptiles. Animals need emotions to survive - they need fear as a trigger to escape predators and aggression to defend their territory, young and food. Charles Darwin thought emotions were merely left over from our animal past. However, you rely on your emotions to make quick, often complex, decisions.
Fear Fear triggers immediate changes in you just as in other animals - your hair stands on end, your heart beats faster, and your body gets ready to either attack or run. When you recognize danger, or feel afraid, you are using an area of your brain called the amygdala. People with damage to this area can no longer recognize fear in others. Feeling afraid helps you to react to dangerous situations.
Fear and the amygdala The amygdala is linked to the parts of the brain that govern your senses, muscles and hormones - enabling your body to react quickly to the sight or sound of a threat. The same information can also travel via the cortex, where it is put together to get the whole picture. This route is probably slower, but allows you to modify your behavior if the situation isn't as dangerous as it first seemed.
Happiness Enjoyment triggers areas in your brain known as 'pleasure centres'. They release 'feel-good' chemicals, in particular dopamine. All animals have this reward system, usually triggered by food or sex. However, the system can be affected by drugs, including nicotine and alcohol. At first, these act in the same way as 'natural' rewards, producing pleasure. But with increased use, the drug is needed to stop unpleasant symptoms that appear when it is not available ('withdrawal'). These effects contribute to drug addiction. Enjoyment triggers areas in your brain known as 'pleasure centres'.
Laughter What makes you laugh? Being tickled, jokes, slapstick comedians - but why? We don't really know, although researchers in California have found the part of the brain that may be responsible. The doctors were performing brain surgery on a 16-year-old girl, for epilepsy. Every time a small area at the front of her brain was electrically stimulated, she burst out laughing. The girl always came up with a reason for her mirth - 'You guys are just so funny!'. What makes you laugh?
Anger Danger can make you feel either angry or frightened: both these emotions are triggered by the same part of the brain - the amygdala. The amygdala in turn triggers a response in the hypothalamus, a key area for many of the things your brain does 'without thinking' including this 'fight or flight' response. Danger can make you feel either angry or frightened.
Emotion and Memory When remembering an emotional event, you recall not only what happened, but also how you felt - an emotional memory. Both sorts of memory can be triggered by something you heard, saw or even smelt, at the time. Scientists think that you store early emotional memories, even if you cannot remember what actually happened. These memories may still affect you as adults. Emotional memories can last a very long time.
